It’s hard (and somewhat inexcusable) to believe that this past summer spent at home was the first time I’d been diving in the UK. And little research needs to be done to justify why UK diving is exceptional. Sure, it’s slightly chilly and I can’t deny the lack of tropical reef fish, but the marine life, conditions and dive sites blew my mind!
Similar to 4 years ago when my partner Asa and I visited his home city of Newcastle (Australia), we went on a local shore dive at Nelson Bay to a site named ‘Fly Point’. Little did we know that he had been living 1 hour’s drive away from one of the best dive sites for shore diving in NSW for the last 15 years. See my blog here to read more about shore diving in Nelson Bay..
For various reasons, my trip back home this past summer was restricted to a tight budget. I looked into diving with seals at Lundy Island and swimming with blue sharks off the coast of Wales. Though ultimately, while fairly priced considering the excursions, I decided to add them to my now ever-growing UK diving bucket list and focus on my ‘priority trip’ for the summer: visiting my wonderful friends and check out their dive project in Porthkerris, Cornwall.
Having met Darren and Andy in Utila back in February, we made a sure promise to pay them a visit over the summer after hearing of their impressive efforts to execute a dive project. Dive Project Cornwall consists of two parts: "an education program and an experience opportunity". Their mission on the surface was to give kids the opportunity to get involved in scuba diving, though at its core the project enabled each individual to develop new skills, create friendships and exhibit courage; and most importantly, to exercise an awareness surrounding the protection of our oceans. Though The Project would not have a scheduled trip during our visit, we still wanted to visit our mates and check out their neck of the woods.
Asa and I drove the 6 hours from my hometown in Winchester to what felt like the end of the Earth. Familiar with bigger Cornish seaside towns like St Ives and Newquay, we were expecting Porthkerris to be the smaller, quainter version. And oh how we were wrong! I would describe Porthkerris to be a cove, consisting of a dive shop, a campsite for said diver’s, as well as a café for said diver’s. That is all. If you’re looking to get dinner, buy supplies, or visit a pub, you’re quite a bit further than a short stroll away. However, after our initial realisation (and embarrassment for not searching the location prior), we felt humbled to be amongst such a dramatic rural landscape.
[The view driving down to Porthkerris Divers, a local pub in Porthleven, our campsite, and the stunning coastal scenery of Porthkerris.]
Despite visiting at the end of August and nearing the end of summer, it triumphantly rained for the duration of our visit. Not surprising by any means, and who cares right? We’re going to get wet regardless! Though camping in the rain with wet dive gear is another story. Part of the adventure... Across our 3-day visit we completed 2 boat dives off 'The Kitten' and 3 shore dives directly in front of Porthkerris Diver's. Overall, I would have to say that I was expecting the boat dives to trump the shore diving, but in fact it was quite the opposite. The 2 sites we visited averaged a 20 minute boat journey from shore on an 8.5m power cat with an electric lift (a feature I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed!). Due to weather conditions, the surface was moderately calm but the visibility dropped to less than 5m. Not the tropical conditions that we're used to, but this was what partially lured us here! Consistent with these sites being deeper, the temperature was also a noticeable few degrees cooler than back at shore. We could identify the unwelcoming thermocline at about 15 meters (it was hard to miss), and for that reason our maximum depth didn't exceed 25 meters. From these dives my computer logged a temperature change of 6 degrees celsius, max: 22°C and min: 16°C. Considering the temperature, visibility and lack of exposure (did I mention we were in 7mm suits?), we initiated our safety stop around the 40-45 minute mark.
[Safety stop hangout.]
What impressed me most about our boat diving experience at Porthkerris, aside from the back-saving electric lift, were 2 things: 1) The wildlife was incredible. Octopus, cuttlefish, crabs, crawfish, wrasse and catsharks/ dogfish were amongst our favourite encounters. 2) The demographic of our fellow boat divers was inspiring. Of the 10 passengers on the Kitten, the majority were above 65, dare I say pushing 80 years of age. All of whom carried their STEEL tanks, heavy lead weights and gear on their backs and walked the 100m from the car park to the shoreline whilst wearing a dry suit. Hard core!
[Left to right: 1)Post-dive smiles. 2) Catshark/ dogfish. 3) Huge octopus! 4) Asa enjoying the electric lift.]
Now onto why the shore diving for me came out on top. I was expecting the shore diving to have a lack of marine life, poor visibility from stirred up substrate and for the topography to be fairly level and shallow. Wrong on all accounts. Arguably one of the best shore dives in the UK, Porthkerris is protected throughout the summer under high cliffs from strong prevailing winds. We entered the water's edge nearby a protruding rocky area, labelled 'Drawna Rock Shore Dive' on the map below. We were told that we got lucky with the visibility during our visit, and even in one meter's depth it looked like we were standing in a glacial fresh water stream. Here in the shallows the substrate is formed of pebbles, attributing to the crystal clear visibility. As we began making our way around the rocky formations and following the fringing reef, the topography changed from a shallow inshore reef to deeper waters, maintaining decent visibility of 5+ meters.
[Site map downloaded from the Porthkerris Diver's website: https://porthkerris.com/shore-diving/)]
Darren, our friend, camping buddy and local dive guide, lead us through a maze of kelp veiled swim throughs, a mesmerising sight as they appeared to dance in the current. We explored every crevice of the towering gullies, providing homes to an abundance of nudibranchs, jewel anemones, sponges, tunicates and sea cucumbers. Continuing seaward, we investigated the deeper sandy seabeds in search of bottom dwelling fish, urchins and starfish. Though again, due to a chilling thermocline at 15m, we reached our maximum depth at 16m despite having the option to venture deeper at this site. An unforgettable highlight of mine was stumbling across camouflaged cuttlefish - a lucky encounter I wasn't expecting to have, yet I went on to see multiple across every dive! In total we completed 3 shore dives, each dive taking a different route and finding new areas of the reef to explore. These dives lasted between 60 - 70 minutes, and understandably averaged a couple of degrees warmer than the boat dives.
[The first cuttlefish I spotted!]
[Beautiful kelp.]
I would whole-heartedly recommend for any diver to experience what Porthkerris has to offer. I have heard that the visibility improves during the winter months, though with those added meters of vis comes a decline in temperature. Speaking of, next time I visit I will definitely arrange to dive in a drysuit. We were fine wearing a 7mm wetsuit and hood, but why even risk feeling cold when you could have the comfort of a drysuit allowing you to stay down for longer and see more? I would also encourage divers to not ignore the shore diving on offer here. Shore diving is free and accessible to all Porthkerris Divers customers - you just need to cover your air fill. I will also definitely be returning to see if I can encounter a basking shark, as they are often seen cruising just 100m off the beach during the summer months, as well as dolphins.
This trip has made me excited to organise more dive excursions around the UK and discover what my home waters have to offer!
Thank you as always for taking an interest in my stories, and I wish you safe dives and happy adventures.
A.
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